August: Brent and Krystle's Wedding in Texas

We had the chance to make a quick trip out to Texas with my family to celebrate my cousin Brent's wedding in August. It was a quick trip, but well worth it! Let me begin with it was a 13 hour drive one way....4 adults and 2 little ones in the car (Moma, Daddy, Philip, Me, Holden and William) We had a great time along the highway together. I do believe we pulled out of Dothan around 4 a.m. on Friday morning.

To keep William entertained, we watched movies, painted, colored, played with toys, sang songs...and on and on we went! Holden and William had a blast together! Maggie helped a ton with William!! She's always such a wonderful blessing. Daddy helped William "stretch" his legs at all the pit stops. He would walk around with him or just hold him a while. Daddy loves being a granddaddy! We arrived at the hotel around 5:45 that afternoon. First thing we did was jump in the pool! We just had to unwind! William loved the pool! He splashed around and jumped in like such a big boy. After we all had a chance to settle in we quickly changed and headed on over to the rehearsal dinner.

Brent and Krystle's rehearsal dinner was great. William especially loved the spaghetti! He gobbled it right up! I enjoyed being around my family and celebrating in their excitement. Uncle Bobby started a "roast the couple" so Philip quickly scooped W up and headed on out to the church playground. William of course loved it! He climbed all over the place and went down every slide. Holden ended up out there with them after a while and he gave Philip a break from the slides. It truly was a special evening hearing about how everyone loved Brent and Krystle watching the video..cute cute pictures! It was a very special night hearing everyone share stories about Brent and Krystle and what each of them meant to us and how they had impacted our lives. Brent is a wonderful man. He's such a strong Christian. He's very humble and full of love. He is one of a kind! I'm just so proud to call him family!

****Here are clips our our speeches at the "roast"****

We ended the evening back at the hotel. After his bath, William went right to sleep so Philip and I sat out on the little patio enjoying the evening breeze. I slept like a rock! I didn't want to wake up the next morning, but my sweet little one was ready for playtime!! Haha!

We all went back out the pool for a little while Saturday morning. The sun was shining and the weather was HOT! So the pool seemed the best bet! William and Holden had a great time swimming together. Poppi sat out there with us a while and watched. He took some great pictures too!

I will say I was a bit worried about William sitting through the wedding. I hated to have to step out with him or have Philip step out, but we took the chance anyway. William did sit for a little while and watched the wedding party come in (while he danced in his sit to the music). He began to try to squirm as Krystle was entering, so Philip stepped to the very back and stood with him a little while before taking him to the nursery. This worked perfectly, b/c Holden wanted to play in there too. The room was all kid-friendly! Nothing but the little playhouses and tunnels and balls. We let Holden babysit William during the wedding! He was so proud of himself! The wedding was beautiful! They were both so giddy during the ceremony. You could truly feel the Lord's presence among us. So much love was present! They wrote their own vows which amazed me. I was so proud of my cousin...although I still have a hard time believing he's old enough to be married!!

We went to the reception for a short while and helped welcome the new couple. The place they had it was a cool place. I hated we couldn't stay longer, but the road was calling our names...13 hours..here we come! We all said our goodbye's and headed on out the door.

The ride home was about the same, just trying to keep William as comfortable as possible and entertained. Bless his heart...he only had one meltdown, but that was because he had a blowout in his diaper! That seems to happen on long car trips. Oh well, that's what back up clothes and lots of wipes are for!

**We put in our wedding video at one point, and he had a blast naming everyone as their pictures popped up on the screen. He really loved seeing "Moma" on the screen.**

My poor husband took the last shift driving and got a ticket 10 mins into his shift. NOT FUN!! I had finally gotten William to sleep and here comes Mr. Officer shining his bright flashlight in the windows. I was just about to come through that window!!! It was 11:45 p.m. and my poor baby had not been asleep yet! Once he signed for the ticket we were on our way. Pulled in the drive way around 3 a.m. and all of us just crawled to our beds. I put William right in our bed and snuggled. Wouldn't you know he was up at 6 a.m.!! It turned out okay, but he and I just snuck to the den and snuggled on the couch watching Noggin. He just wanted mommy time!

Boy..I can't believe we managed the trip! I would do it again in a heartbeat though! I love family and I wanted to be there for the wedding!